In a typical professional photographic system, one or more electronic flash or strobe type lights are synchronized with the operation of a camera to illuminate a photographic subject. Pursuant to the activation of the camera shutter, the camera generates a flash trigger pulse. This flash trigger pulse is used to actuate a flash driver circuit, which in turn activates a flash trigger circuit within the electronic flash. The flash trigger circuit provides a current to drive a flash tube, thereby causing the flash tube to emit the desired illumination. The flash trigger circuit is actuated by an electrical short-circuit provided within the flash driver circuit, this short circuit permitting the flash tube activating current to flow.
A problem often encountered in the operation of the above described photographic system is the non firing of the flash due to the polarity sensitivity of the flash driver circuit. More specifically, because the electrical short circuit provided by the flash driver circuit is typically created through a controllable semiconductor device, the flash driver circuit to electronic flash connection exhibits a polarity. If the flash trigger circuit is connected to the flash driver circuit (i.e. across the semiconductor device) in the wrong polarity, the semiconductor device acts as an open circuit, blocking the desired flow of current and the firing of the flash tube.
In typical photographic studios employing such photographic systems, polarized plugs supplied with the electronic flashes are often replaced with studio-compatible, non-polarized plugs. The use of these non-polarized plugs increases the convenience of connecting the various electronic flashes and cameras together, but exacerbates the above described, polarity sensitivity problem. The resultant non firing of the flash causes many pictures to be lost.